Hippopotamyrus discorhynchus

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes

Overview

Family : Elephantfishes ; Nocturnal shoaling species; favors large river channels with a soft bottom and fringing vegetation (Ref. 7248). Found mainly in sheltered bays , lagoons and swampy areas. Occurs also in typical sandy or rocky rivers (Ref. 13337). Feeds on insect larvae at night (Ref. 5595). Known to migrate up tributary rivers of Lake Kariba during rainy season , though it is not yet clear whether this is a breeding migration (Ref. 13337). Breeds during the rainy season; females carry up to 5,000 eggs .

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Mormyridae

Distribution: tropical Africa and Nile. Paired and vertical fins all present; narrow caudal peduncle and deeply forked caudal fin . Parasphenoid and tongue with teeth. Branchiostegal rays 6-8. Dorsal fin rays 12-91. Anal fin rays 20-70. Dorsal and anal fins usually opposite each other on posterior part of body. With 37-64 vertebrae . Mouth of highly variable form, often trunklike. Maximum length 1.5 m , usually 9-50 cm. Mormyrids are noted for their large cerebellums and their use of electricity and sound .The family Mormyridae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes ) and the Order Osteoglossiformes. It contains 18 genera and 198 species. It may be found in Freshwater environments and is primarily Primary freshwater. Some members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is gymnotiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be sluggish. This family may be found from 32° n to 26° s and 18° w to 45° e. Etymology of this family name : Greek, mormyros = a kind of fish

Habitat

Biome: Fresh water . Demersal .

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Cyphomyrus cubangoensis (Pellegrin, 1936)
2. Cyphomyrus discorhynchus (Peters, 1852)
3. Hippopotamyrus cubangoensis (Pellegrin, 1936)
4. Hippopotamyrus discorhynchus (Peters, 1852)
5. Marcusenius cubangoensis Pellegrin, 1936
6. Marcusenius discorhynchus (Peters, 1852)
7. Marcusenius tanganicanus Boulenger, 1906
8. Mormyrus discorhynchus Peters, 1852
9. Petrocephalus discorhynchus (Peters, 1852)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 20-Jul-1994

Similar Species

Members of the genus Hippopotamyrus

There are approximately 21 species in this genus:

H. aelsbroecki · H. aequipinnis · H. ansorgii (Slender Stone Basher) · H. batesii · H. castelnaui · H. castor · H. discorhynchus (Parrotfish) · H. grahami (Graham's Stonebasher) · H. harringtoni · H. macrops · H. macroterops · H. multifasciatus · H. pappenheimi · H. paugyi · H. pictus (Trunkfish) · H. psittacus (Trunkfish) · H. retrodorsalis · H. smithersi · H. szaboi · H. weeksii · H. wilverthi

Bibliography

• Bell-Cross, G. and J.L. Minshull (1988). The fishes of Zimbabwe. National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, Harare. 294 p.
• Daget, J., J. -P. Gosse, and D. F. E. Thys van den Audenaerde, eds. 1984. Check-List of Freshwater Fishes of Africa, vol. 1. ORSTROM. Paris, France. 410. ISBN: 2-87177-002-6.
• Eccles, D.H. (1992). FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the freshwater fishes of Tanzania. FAO, Rome. 145 p.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• Gosse, J.-P. (1984). Mormyridae. p. 63-122. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ORSTOM, Paris and MRAC, Tervuren. Vol. 1.
• Merron, G.S. and M.N. Bruton (1995). Community ecology and conservation of the fishes of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Environ. Biol. Fish. 43(2):109-119.
• van der Waal, B.C.W. and P.H. Skelton (1984). Check list of fishes of Caprivi. Madoqua 13(4):303-320.

More Info

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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 8, 2006.
• FishBase
• FishBase 2006.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 02, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 4 providers.
• MBLWHOI Library: Universal Biological Index and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 18, 2008.
• Randall, John E. (from FishBase).

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 02, 2008:

• Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates: Fish Collection
• FishBase: FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
• GBIF-Sweden: Fishes (NRM)
• Senckenberg: Collection Pisces

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2494102
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-25611
• Fishbase Species ID: 5407
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 111842
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 649843
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 113127

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